Thiruvaheendirapuram or Thiruvandipuram, is a small temple town outside Cuddalore, my adopted hometown. The main deity of the temple is Lord Devenathar, who is said to be the elder brother of Lord Venkateswara of Tirupathi. The general belief is that if a person is unable to visit Tirupathi, he/ she could visit Thiruvandhipuram instead and that the elder brother would take care of the issues.

There is also a small hillock opposite to the temple. On the top of the hillock is another small temple for Lord Hayagriva (A god with a human body and a horse face). Legend has it that when Hanuman carried the Sanjivani mountain, a small rock fell and that small rock is the hillock in Thiruvandipuram. The hillock is called as the Oushadagiri.Another rock that fell elsewhere in Tamilnadu is called as Marudamalai (Marunthu Malai), which is just ouside Coimbatore.

Thiruvandipuram is one of the 95 Vaishnava sthalams in Tamilnadu. There are 11 more outside Tamilnadu and 1 each in ThiruParamaPaadham and ThiruPaarKadal.

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